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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: cap · rush · pit · chip · game · rest · wind · bat

  1. Boris sat near the fire ________________.
  2. You shouldn't ________________ things.
  3. The polar ice ________________ is melting.
  4. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  5. The ________________ hangs upside down in the cave.
  6. Jarno Trulli was disqualified for passing a red light at the ________________ exit.
  7. Have you ever swallowed an apricot ________________?
  8. Take your time. There's no ________________.
  9. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  10. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  11. Tom didn't even ________________ an eye.
  12. Can you put the ________________ back on the pen?
  13. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  14. It's best to wear a ________________ on your head during the cold Moscow winters.
  15. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.
  16. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  17. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  18. The ________________ was stolen yesterday, along with the balls.
  19. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  20. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  21. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  22. That was a fun ________________.
  23. That must've been a ________________.
  24. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. pit — a hole
  2. rush — to hurry
  3. cap — of ice
  4. wind — moving air
  5. bat — the animal
  6. pit — in a race
  7. pit — a fruit stone
  8. rush — hurry
  9. chip — in a computer
  10. game — wild animals
  11. bat — in an idiom
  12. cap — a lid
  13. wind — moving air
  14. cap — a hat
  15. rest — what's left
  16. rest — a break
  17. wind — to turn a key
  18. bat — for baseball
  19. rest — what's left
  20. game — a kind of play
  21. chip — to eat
  22. game — a match
  23. rush — a thrill
  24. chip — for betting

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com